When people hear the word motherhood, many think about the positives that come out of it. All the cute clothes you can buy, celebrating this time with your family and friends, and most importantly the beautiful life that comes at the end of pregnancy.
However, there’s also a harsh reality to pregnancy that many don’t consider or even talk about. The life inside a woman changing their body, not being able to sleep comfortably, having people consistently ask about the baby and not the mom carrying the baby on top of many other factors.
We often hear the words “postpartum depression” a lot. Postpartum depression happens after a woman gives birth, and can be caused by many different factors including exhaustion and changing hormone levels. This is something that definitely needs to be talked about and needs more attention than it currently gets.
So when an ad showing what postpartum is like for a lot of moms was rejected by being played during the 2020 Oscars, people were disappointed and rightfully so. The ad wasn’t graphic at all, there was nothing sexual about it. It was just an ad about a mom navigating this new part of her life with her new ever-changing body. It gave a raw look into motherhood and the changes your body goes through even after the baby is born.
Yet people had a problem with it.
Yes, pregnancy is beautiful, it’s life-changing, it’s amazing that women can carry and give birth to a beautiful new life. But pregnancy is also hard, it’s painful, uncomfortable. As a society, we are programmed to expect that all women are good for is having babies, without really thinking about the changes that women have to go through, emotionally, physically and mentally when pregnant.
Ads like this one shouldn’t be rejected by being played on national television, this is a real legitimate struggle many women around the world go through on a daily basis.
It’s disappointing that as a society we’ve chosen to deem things like this as too “graphic” or not “family-friendly” when this is something we should be highlighting and bringing awareness too. Societal views are quick to judge women for not wanting to have kids but don’t want to provide resources and help when women choose to go through with a pregnancy and have to deal with the emotions and feelings afterward.
Be nice to your moms, reach out to friends and family members who are expecting and make sure they’re ok. Don’t ask questions about their baby as they probably get millions every day and instead ask about their day and if they need anything.
Stop shaming women who don’t want to have kids, reach out and help the women dealing with the after-effects of pregnancy.
Just because you see something you don’t like, doesn’t mean it’s not happening to people around you.
Check out this ad, because it gives a raw, real look into postpartum motherhood.